Gulf states key to migration, Ukraine says Tajani in UAE – Xinhua English.news.cn

(ANSA) – ROME, June 18 – The Gulf state is an important cooperation for Italy on a range of issues including migration and the knock-on effects of the war of aggression against Ukraine, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani said Sunday. partner.

“The Gulf states are key players for more than one political reason: they are decisive players in Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, helping to stabilize crisis areas and strengthening joint action to prevent migration and specifically combat trafficking in migrants,” Tajani said in an interview said the United Arab Emirates (UAE) when meeting his counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The agenda for the meeting included consolidating bilateral ties, economic cooperation and business opportunities, as well as migration and regional dossiers, notably Tunisia and Libya.

Following Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s formalization of a “strategic relationship” with the UAE during a visit to the UAE in March, “now we are returning to start a new chapter in our cooperation”, the foreign minister added.

Tajani said the government was “developing a strategic foreign policy” that was “increasingly focused on the ‘global south’: we need immigration from (these countries) first, but also politically – look at Ukraine – on energy, to support the interests of Italy and Europe as a whole”.

The UAE “invests even more than China in Africa. But most importantly, they have a very deep understanding of Africa from a social, cultural and religious perspective,” he continued. At the same time, the Gulf states are “increasingly integrated into us Europeans,” Tajani said.

“We have the ability to understand and take joint action and we want to translate that into political action,” he continued, stressing the importance of the West’s largest economy remaining connected to the rest of the world. “The experience of the aggression in Ukraine made us realize that if we don’t share our assessments and decisions with other partners on a daily basis, we risk failing to communicate our message,” Tajani said.

“At this stage in building the new vision, our relationship with the UAE and the Gulf states is critical,” he concluded.

(ANSA).